Brett Howden scored his first two goals of the tournament and Canada flexed its offensive muscles as the team cruised to an 8-0 win over Denmark on Saturday night.

With the win the Canadians concluded the round robin with a 3-0-1-0 record, clinching first place in Group A.

Canada jumped out to an early lead, thanks to a goal by St. Louis Blues prospect Robert Thomas less than five minutes into the game. Howden and Sam Steel would also add tallies before the period was out to give the Canadians a 3-0 lead after the first.

The goals kept coming in the second as Cale Makar scored his second in as many games, and Howden deflected a Cal Foote point shot for his second of the contest.

Alex Formenton, Michael McLeod, and Drake Batherson each chipped in singles in the final period to round out the scoring. With McLeod's marker, Canada has now gotten goals from 13 different skaters in its first four games.

Carter Hart was back between the pipes for Canada after giving up three goals in a heart-breaking shootout lossagainst the Americans on Friday night. The Philadelphia Flyers prospect was perfect, turning away all 18 Denmark shots.

Canada will now await the conclusion of the preliminary round where it will play the fourth-placed finisher of Group B in the quarterfinals.

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Tuukka Rask is looking like a clone of his 2014 Vezina-winning self.

After a slow start to the 2017-18 campaign, the Boston Bruins netminder has found his game and has been the catalyst for a club that has taken a giant leap in the standings.

With a shutout win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, the Bruins tied the Toronto Maple Leafs with 48 points on the year, but moved ahead of them in the standings with Boston having two games in hand.

The Bruins have been getting contributions throughout their lineup over the last month, but none have made a bigger impact than Rask's stellar play.

Over the his last 11 games, Rask has gone 9-0-1 while posting a league-best .955 save percentage and a 1.22 GAA, allowing one goal or less in eight of those games.

Overall the Bruins have gone 9-1-2 in their last 12 games, scoring 44 goals and allowing just 20 against. They are arguably the league's hottest team and they can thank their No. 1 netminder for a large part of their success.

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Tuukka Rask is looking like a clone of his 2014 Vezina-winning self.

After a slow start to the 2017-18 campaign, the Boston Bruins netminder has found his game and has been the catalyst for a club that has taken a giant leap in the standings.

With a shutout win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, the Bruins tied the Toronto Maple Leafs with 48 points on the year, but moved ahead of them in the standings with Boston having two games in hand.

The Bruins have been getting contributions throughout their lineup over the last month, but none have made a bigger impact than Rask's stellar play.

Over the his last 11 games, Rask has gone 9-0-1 while posting a league-best .955 save percentage and a 1.22 GAA, allowing one goal or less in eight of those games.

Overall the Bruins have gone 9-1-2 in their last 12 games, scoring 44 goals and allowing just 20 against. They are arguably the league's hottest team and they can thank their No. 1 netminder for a large part of their success.

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Washington Capitals bench boss Barry Trotz recorded his 737th career victory Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils, surpassing Lindy Ruff for fifth place on the NHL's all-time coaching wins list.

Trotz is now just 45 wins behind legendary New York Islanders coach Al Arbour for fourth all time:

Given that Hitchcock is 66 years old, whereas Trotz is only 55, there's a good chance he'll eventually wind up in the top three if he decides to keep on coaching.

Of Trotz's 737 wins, 557 came with the Nashville Predators, whom he coached from 1998-99 to 2013-14. He's already racked up 180 wins in just three-and-a-half seasons in Washington.

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The New Jersey Devils acquired goaltender Eddie Lack from the Calgary Flames in exchange for defenseman Dalton Prout, the Devils announced on Saturday.

Lack has suited up in just four games for the Flames this season where he's put up a dismal 5.29 GAA and a .813 save percentage. Meanwhile, Prout has gone pointless in four games with the Devils this season.

Both players have been assigned to their new respective AHL clubs.

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The Nashville Predators will be in uncharted territory for at least the next week as the club has placed forward Filip Forsberg on injured reserve, the team announced on Saturday.

Forsberg left Friday's game against the Minnesota Wild mid-way through the third period with an undisclosed injury. In his absence, the team has recalled forward Frederick Gaudreau from the AHL.

The designation means Forsberg will miss at least the next three games, which will serve as the first games he has missed for the Predators since April 13, 2014, according to The Tennessean's Adam Vingan.

Forsberg currently paces the team with 15 goals and 34 points in 37 games.

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - It was a scene for the ages, and not just because it was a thriller on the ice.

The wintery conditions at New Era Field in the United States' shootout victory over Canada on Friday made for a truly memorable setting, and members of both World Junior Hockey Championship squads gushed afterward about how special it was.

“It was my first time, and I think for a bunch of us, it was our first time on an outdoor rink," U.S. forward Brady Tkachuk said. "For us, when it was snowing, it was awesome. We’d never experienced this before. I think both teams just cherished the experience."

A record crowd of more than 44,000 fans took in what was the first-ever outdoor game at the international level. It began to snow early in the contest and increased as the play progressed, forcing a multitude of stoppages so the stadium crew could clean off the ice surface.

“It wasn’t your usual hockey game, but it was an unbelievable atmosphere and one of the coolest games I’ve ever played in, so it was really fun," Team USA goaltender Jake Oettinger said postgame. "It was difficult (to track the puck), especially in the second period because the wind was blowing snow in (my) eyes, but it’s part of the game and it was a fun challenge.”

The wind and snow were so strong after the second period that officials divided the third into two 10-minute halves, allowing the teams to switch ends halfway through before doing the same in overtime.

“When they were shoveling the snow, you could almost make a fort, so it was crazy," said Canada's captain, Dillon Dube. "It was the most snow I’ve seen in a long time. It was crazy coming down. Sitting on the bench, you’re there for a bit and (suddenly) you have an inch of snow on your helmet, so it was coming down hard.”

U.S. captain Joey Anderson was understanding of the stoppages and discussed how the weather brought back memories of his childhood.

“(That’s) going to happen with the outdoor game. It just made another element of fun," he said. "A lot of us haven’t seen stuff like that since we were little kids playing in the backyard and out on the ponds, but it made for another interesting experience.”

American center Casey Mittelstadt, who was named player of the game after assisting on all three U.S. goals in regulation, also expressed just how much he enjoyed the conditions.

“It made for an absolute blast, and they did a good job managing the ice, getting the shovels out there and things like that," he said.

Even Canada's head coach, Dominique Ducharme, was able to appreciate the atmosphere in a losing effort.

“It was a great experience, for sure," he said. "Different (kind of) game, but it was a great experience.”

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Canada advanced to the Spengler Cup championship game courtesy of a 5-2 win over Czech team Mountfield HK on Saturday.

Canada jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from David McIntyre and Jay McClement, but Mountfield cut the lead in half 14 seconds later with a tally from Lukas Cingel.

Cody Goloubef restored the two-goal lead early in the second period, but the Czech squad pulled back to within one thanks to a shorthanded breakaway goal from Michal Dragoun.

With 4:21 remaining in the third period, Zach Boychuk iced it for Canada with a notch on the power-play that was briefly reviewed for potential goaltender interference. Maxim Noreau added a late empty-net goal for insurance.

Goaltender Kevin Poulin stopped 26 of 28 shots in the win.

Canada - in search of a third consecutive tournament win - will now face the winner of Switzerland vs. HC Davos in the championship game on Sunday at 6 a.m. EST.

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NHL players won't be headed to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, but their fate has yet to be decided for the 2022 Games in Beijing.

In April, the NHL announced it would not participate in the 2018 Games after unsuccessful negotiations with the IIHF and International Olympic Committee.

Still, it's no secret the league is intrigued by the Chinese market. Earlier this season, the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks faced off in a pair of exhibition contests in Beijing and Shanghai as part of the NHL China Games.

Attending the 2022 Olympics in Beijing would help the NHL build on these international efforts.

"Each Olympics is different. There's a different value proposition," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. "These particular Olympics that are coming up, ultimately the negatives outweighed the positives for our owners.

"I don't know what Beijing will hold. The logistical issues that we have with South Korea will be the same with China, but maybe there are some other opportunities in China that aren't in South Korea. We will see."

The NHL previously participated in the past five Winter Olympics, beginning in Nagano, Japan in 1998.

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - The difference in Friday's historic outdoor affair was motivation.

U.S. players acknowledged drawing inspiration from the previous night's stunning loss to Slovakia as they rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit against Canada and prevailed 4-3 in a shootout at the World Junior Hockey Championship in the open air at New Era Field.

“(We were) really motivated," Team USA captain Joey Anderson said postgame Friday. "We needed to make sure we came out and put a good foot forward, and showed some resilience, and we did that. We stuck together as a group. That was the biggest part, just making sure we didn’t turn on each other when we got down, and we stuck with it.”

Brady Tkachuk tied the game in the third, and said afterward that the defending gold medalists' surprising letdown one night prior was one they wanted to avoid duplicating.

“That definitely fueled the fire for our team, and you never want that to happen again, and our team bounced back well.”

American forward Kieffer Bellows, who notched a power-play goal in the second period against Canada, made it clear the impetus for Friday's comeback came the moment the final buzzer sounded Thursday.

“Guys were motivated the second that game ended (against Slovakia)," he said after the victory over Canada. "We knew we wanted to bounce back (Friday) and get a win, and I’m very proud of this group of guys. It’s hard to (describe). They’re really special.”

Bellows insisted the U.S. players didn't panic when they trailed by two goals in the final regulation frame.

“That (says) a lot about our group, how close we are as a family. There was never a doubt in whole entire (dressing) room, on the bench, never at any point.”

U.S. head coach Bob Motzko praised his team for coming together in the third period, overtime, and the shootout after their effort in the previous contest.

“That team showed a lot of character today to bounce back from what happened (Thursday night)," he said. "I gave Slovakia a ton of credit (after that game) … but that wasn’t a good showing for us and we needed to rebound. No matter what we did tonight, we played hard.”

Motzko also didn't hesitate when asked if the quick turnaround after the shocking loss was a good thing.

“It was a great thing," he quipped postgame Friday.

On the Canadian side, head coach Dominique Ducharme said they'd use the defeat in a similar way when they complete their own back-to-back with a game against Denmark.

“(If) we win (Saturday), we finish first, so we’ll be in a good position to go into the (medal) round," he said postgame. "We’ll learn from that game (versus the United States), I can promise you that.”

Canada's captain, Dillon Dube, echoed that sentiment.

“Overall, it was tough losing, but it’s just one game of the (preliminary round), and we can build off this," he said. "It’ll make us stronger for when it really counts.”

The U.S. next plays Finland on Sunday, indoors at Buffalo's KeyBank Center, in what will be both teams' final preliminary-round contest. The Americans (1-1-0-1) sit second in Group A with five points through three games, while Canada (2-0-1-0) leads the group with seven points after three contests.

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